Aug 15 2008
Richard Roberts Offered Severance Package
The former president of Oral Roberts University, who stepped down amid allegations he misspent school funds to live in luxury, is being offered a severance package but university officials won’t divulge its terms. Televangelist Richard Roberts, the son of school founder Oral Roberts, resigned in November.
He and his wife, Lindsay, were accused of dropping money on shopping sprees, home improvements and a stable of horses for their daughters at a time when ORU was more than $50 million in debt. Both have repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Billionaire Oklahoma City businessman Mart Green took the reins at ORU in January, donating $70 million and pledging to restore the public’s trust in the small evangelical school.
On Wednesday, Green called the proposed severance agreement “fair, reasonable, and in the best interest of ORU.” The package has yet to be finalized, and Green refused to comment further on the details.
Frank Hagedorn, Roberts’ attorney, confirmed the negotiations.
“He was promised a severance and he should get his severance,” said Hagedorn, who would not say whether his client was assured severance when he resigned last November.
Critics say any deal for Roberts sends the wrong signal.
Read more here.
[From me]
I’m glad Christians are known for forgiveness. But when do you draw the line? How would you feel if you had given money to ORU and it was misused? When do followers of Jesus say enough? What if they deduct the extravagant spending from the severance? ORU has always been a fine school, I imagine they just want to sweep this whole incident under the rug.
What do you think?
4 responses so far
Severance pay = no lawsuit from the former president…
Probably cheaper to pay him off than to go to trial!
Sad, but true!
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..We ID Anyone Appearing to Be Under 21
I think Mart Green is putting millions of dollars of his own money into the school. If he wants to pay off RR to make him go away, fine.
davidbmc’s last blog post..Pride & Arrogance: Todd & Shonnah Bentley, Post 3
If Mr. Green wants to “bail” ORU out, that his personal perogative. Furthermore, this is just one of some “ministries” and institutions that evangelical believers need to demand accountablility from the overseers of such. I grieve over this and others that are exposed. It does hurt the evangelical witness for Christ.
I once served on the Board of Missions of our state convention. It was during those three years that I served that we had to deal with mis-management of funds from one of our entities because of a leader’s shortcomings. That’s why we have audits. I learned to read audit reports and to ask questions. It is tedious, time-consuming, and down right boring at times. BUT, it is necessary.
The people who give money to our denominations, churches, ministries and such institutions as ORU, need people who will be accountable for the financial actions of these institutions. Besides, the money ALL belongs to the Lord in the first place.
I imagine the severance pay is to keep daddy Roberts satisfied as well since He paved the way for Richard to become president. I am terrribly disappointed about this because of a good family in our church who graduated from that college years ago and they are outstanding, model Christians in our community and fellowship. They are grieved.
As the Word of God says, “… when one part of the body hurts, we ALL hurt.”
God killed the sons of Eli who were priests and robbed and used the sheep and Richard and Oral Roberts are no different. They put their own financial interests first above those of the sheep like God who put the interests of the sheep first and freely gave Jesus. When Jesus meets them at the gates of heaven I am sure he will point them into the other direction and tell them to go to hell along with the other liars and thieves including Todd Bentley!